I know plenty. But I'm curious to see who you think are acceptable, intelligent conservatives, since you said there are some.

Most of those that came to mind were local politicians or personal friends.

But I would also list Colin Powell, I think the problem with the "conservative" movement is the people you choose to be your spokespeople.

I can understand where you come from economicially, I can even understand where you come from on some social stances(I still think you are wrong but I can understand where that thinking comes from), but when you revel in choosing people that flat out deny science(or just don't care to understand it), ignore human rights for some stubborn belief to be imposed, and just over all choose the anti-intellectual idealogues as your spokespeople, i.e. Rush, Palin, Joe the Plumber, Jindal it's just embarassing.

you have Bobby Jindal who's very bright, on paper, but his response to the SOTU sounded like Kenneth from 30 Rock -- it was patronizing, and incredibly dumbed-down.

Peggy Noonan and David Brooks are very intelligent, yet both were disgusted by Bush (and are by the current leaders of the GOP), and now the Rush crowd wants to brand them RINOs like Colin Powell and chase them out of the party. it's a witch hunt of their own.

it seems that the GOP is self-immolating right now, and all you're left with are big-n-dumb, religious fanatic, populist types (Palin, Huckabee, what Jindal wants to be) and the most vicious, hateful, irresponsible pundits (Rush, Malkin, Coulter, Beck, Hannity). it's telling, i think, that the loudest voices of the party are really entertainers out to make a buck.

i think the GOP needs to be more accepting of moderation and diversity if they ever want to get back into power, and the party has to seriously take a look at itself and wonder why their appeal to minorities and women -- especially women -- is deteriorating so rapidly.

name me an elected female Republican superstar. because i can't think of one at the moment.

it seems that the GOP is self-immolating right now, and all you're left with are big-n-dumb, religious fanatic, populist types (Palin, Huckabee, what Jindal wants to be) and the most vicious, hateful, irresponsible pundits (Rush, Malkin, Coulter, Beck, Hannity). it's telling, i think, that the loudest voices of the party are really entertainers out to make a buck.

The problem with liberals is that they see Rush and Beck and Hannity and these "evil" people as leaders of any consequence in the Republican party. They're not. They're commentators. Do you see Keith Olbermann or Bill Maher as leaders of the Democratic Party? If you don't want Rush or any of the others to have an influence on your life, don't listen to them. Rush can't raise your taxes or create waiting lists at hospitals or put my future ancestors in debt or release photos that will endanger our military. I wish all I had to do was not listen to Obama and the people who run the country in order for them not to have an influence on my life, but sadly that doesn't quite do the trick...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irvine511

name me an elected female Republican superstar. because i can't think of one at the moment.

Define superstar. If by that you mean popular strong conservative women, then we have a few- Palin, Hutchison, Rice, Murkowski. There aren't many, but they do exist. The Republicans are out of power at the moment. If I had asked you in 2003 or 2005 to name some prominent Democratic women, I probably would have gotten a short list.

By the way, maybe some of you saw the latest Gallup poll out. 40% of Americans define themselves as conservatives. 35% call themselves moderate, and 21% liberal. Unlike in 2008, if conservative candidates run in 2010 and 2012, the GOP looks poised for a comeback based on that poll. Conservatives always outnumber liberals by roughly 2-1 in such polls, but this should be troubling news to those who think the country is suddenly turning dark blue and falling in love with everything the Democrats are doing. Also, maybe you saw the poll a few days ago where 42% trust the Republicans on the economy versus 36% for the Democrats.

Again I say the seemingly endless bashing of Palin must be based on fear that she can win in 2012. That's the only reason. If she was really such a dumb candidate with no appeal and would be a breeze to defeat, why trash her? You should be building her up so she wins the nomination and get destroyed by Obama, right? All this talk about her being uninformed and stupid is nonsense. Even if that is true- which, of course, it isn't, but even if it was- if there's one thing we learned in November it's that you can win the White House even if you have no substance or knowledge of policy as long as you resonate with people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BVS

They did this to themselves, so spare me the self-righteousness.

Are you saying that anyone who is imperfect and falters and does something they were taught not to do deserves whatever is thrown at them, no matter how unnecessary and vicious? Because that's what I'm getting from you. From what I see, Bristol is turning what happened to her into a great positive and she should be applauded for how she is handling her new life.

Again I say the seemingly endless bashing of Palin must be based on fear that she can win in 2012. That's the only reason. If she was really such a dumb candidate with no appeal and would be a breeze to defeat, why trash her? You should be building her up so she wins the nomination and get destroyed by Obama, right? All this talk about her being uninformed and stupid is nonsense. Even if that is true- which, of course, it isn't, but even if it was- if there's one thing we learned in November it's that you can win the White House even if you have no substance or knowledge of policy as long as you resonate with people.

This is one of the most laughable, factually inaccurate, partisan, biased statements I've ever read on this board.

I kind of hope she does throw her hat into the ring in '12, because it would be endlessly amusing to see how the other candidates deal with her in the primaries.